Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,466 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Yelp in the first quarter worth $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Yelp by 262.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Yelp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Yelp in the first quarter worth about $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $34.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.82. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $357.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on YELP. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Yelp in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $253,680.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 288,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,634.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $253,680.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 288,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,634.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,080,985. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yelp Company Profile

Yelp Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's platform covers various categories, including restaurants, shopping, beauty and fitness, health, and other categories, as well as home, local, auto, professional, pets, events, real estate, and financial services.